Boldpost Idea Heap Reference Networks Forums Debates Journalism Education

Boldpost

The Vision

Bring ideas together … research, debate, understand, stir curiosity, become friends … draw people to our Creator and each other … build evidence, pursue truth, grow knowledge, develop wisdom, appreciate.

Brown Bear

The Mission

  • Create networks of people in local communities and across world cultures to come together, solve problems, and enjoy each other's company.
  • Provide tools for debate, instruction, problem-solving, entertaining interactions, etc.
  • Provide counseling and references with both practical solutions and proposals of possible solutions. The counseling might be for personal finances, family issues, career development, people interaction, health issues, dependency issues, educational challenges, etc. We’d bring together experts and lay people to provide actual examples and anecdotes of solutions that worked for individuals.
  • Find solutions to complex conundrums.
  • Publish.
  • Build websites and brick-and-mortar sites (coffee shops?) where people from multiple cultures and regions can engage socially, collaborate, and share backgrounds and ideas.

Features

Knowledge Repository

This will become a live, continually updated set of databases with information that can be used by debate teams, journalists, policymakers, etc. It will be a little like Wikipedia but more research-oriented.

People can enter what they deem to be factual statements. Then, for each fact, people can list evidence that supports it and evidence that contradicts it, along with the reasoning behind the support or contradictions. We'll need a system that filters and consolidates the facts, evidence, and reasoning to keep it all manageable. So, I’ll need input on what strategies to build to keep it manageable.

However, it will be designed similarly to how college debaters used to organize their note card files from which they have to retrieve information quickly.

The Idea Heap

Quick Notes (personal thoughts)

Write down short ideas as thoughts come.

Note Cards (notes from websites, books, periodicals, videos)

Build a note card system with bibliographic references to gather information from websites, books, magazines, videos, etc.

Articles, Essays, Blogs

Enable project members to compile information across Quick Links, Quick Notes, Lists, Comparisons, and Formulas using keywords and hashtags.

Comparisons

Keep notes on contrasts, differentiation, juxtapositions, paradoxes, correlations, similarities, and differences.

Lists

We will allow the development of lists. They will have similar features as mentioned for the outlines above, plus each list could become part of an outline itself.

Outlines

First approach: Start with an outline, then drag-and-drop quick links, note cards, quick notes, comparisons, and lists to be attached to the outline topics and subtopics. An author can build a rough draft of a full-fledged article with in-depth thoughts and evidence.

Second approach: Allow an assortment of titles from quick links, note cards, quick notes, comparisons, and lists to be imported and dragged around to create an outline.

Formulas

Include tools that enable standard notation of fractions, summations, integrals, chemical equations, etc. This will enable discussions on technical topics.

Hashtags/Keywords

Enable project members to gather research across each other’s Quick Links, Quick Notes, Lists, Comparisons, and Formulas through keywords or commonly accepted hashtags.

Search

Enable project members to search content across Quick Links, Quick Notes, Lists, Comparisons, Formulas, Articles, Blogs, etc.

Collaboration

Essays

Write rough drafts of essays, enable editors to review the essays, enable publication of the essays, and allow monitored reader comments at the end of each article after publication.

Forums (traditional)

Allow for a more interactive and collaborative experience, but typically a linear series of thoughts.

Forums (spiderweb)

Enable interactive discussion based on nodes where the traditional linear discussions can branch off in several directions.

Debates (oppositional)

Traditional style. Debate two sides of a proposition. Teams take a side for the first debate, then switch sides of the topic in a second debate. This allows a fuller perspective on the issues.

Debates (collaborative)

Virtual teams will debate two sides of an issue, but participants can switch back and forth between them as ideas and rebuttals for either side come to mind.

Debates (multi-dimensional)

Not all problems have just two sides. Many are multi-dimensional. Develop debate structures for a topic that can handle several dimensions of thought.

Debates (humorous)

These debates will focus more on humor than exploring challenging paradoxes and problems. Humorous debates will help people escape the constant barrage of life's difficulties.

Resources

Build a list of references where ideas can be found: libraries, media, universities, government resources, business resources, church resources, other nonprofit resources, experts' contact info, etc.

Build database repositories where ideas can be stored, retrieved, and browsed.

Media

In addition to blogs, forums, and debates, we also want to enable users to produce vlogs, videos, chats, and streaming of real-time events.

Language Translation

Many members won't know English, so we must add language translation capabilities to the site.

Professions

Journalism

Provide tools for journalism such as the following to enable people to engage in journalism:

  • Reference system that tracks the accuracy of journalists and news outlets over time. All ideological sides could submit evidence regarding accuracy.
  • Reference system that tracks blatant bias that results in inaccurate news reports. An example of blatant bias would be when a reporter declares someone else's claim as being false when, for anyone, there are too many unknowns to determine that. But since they wish it were false to fit their narrative, they declare it false.
  • Databases for the public to submit, store, and retrieve information and evidence for all topics of general interest
  • List principles for sound journalism
  • References for journalists and publishers on how to grow journalistic outlets
  • How to develop contacts with movers and shakers for gathering news
  • Journalism equipment guide
  • Writing guides
  • Videography guides
  • Publishing guides
  • Budgeting and financial guides
  • Online instruction and links to training to develop journalistic skills
  • Provide news website services that journalists can license to use as their news outlets at attractive prices
  • Language translation services
  • Forums to discuss how to improve journalism

Law

Provide research regarding what makes good law and how to make law fairer and more effective:

  • Reference system that tracks how law has facilitated society and individuals, and how it has damaged society and individuals.
  • Reference system that tracks blatant bias in law throughout history.
  • Databases for the public to submit, store, and retrieve information and evidence for all topics regarding law
  • Develop systems that link the general public to legislators and their staffs to collaboratively research the best ways to solve complex problems in society
  • List principles for sound law
  • How to develop relationships with staffs of legislative, judicial, and executive branches of government
  • Online instruction and links to training to develop legal knowledge and insight
  • Database for public use that tracks what issues can be reasonably addressed through law and what problems can only be addressed through systems outside the legal system (statutory laws vs. laws of the heart)
  • Forums to discuss how to improve legal systems
Business

Provide business tools to enable people to start new businesses:

  • Databases with information and references on how to build meaningful and successful businesses
  • Principles for sound business
  • References on finding assistance with building a new business
  • Budgeting and financial guides
  • Online instruction to develop business skills
  • Language translation services
  • Forums to discuss business

Social Services

Provide research regarding what makes social services effective and how to make social services fairer and more effective:

  • Reference system that tracks how social services have facilitated society and individuals and how they have damaged society and individuals.
  • Reference system that tracks blatant bias in social services throughout history.
  • Databases for the public to submit, store, and retrieve information and evidence for all topics regarding social services
  • List principles for sound practice in social services
  • How to develop relationships with staff of social services
  • Online instruction and links to training to develop social services, including getting funding, finding workers, managing finances, etc.
  • Database for public use that tracks what problems can be reasonably addressed through social services
  • Forums to discuss how to improve social service systems

Education

Provide tools for supplemental education:

  • Databases to both retrieve and submit information and evidence for good education
  • Principles for sound education
  • References on building educational outlets
  • Education equipment guide
  • Quality online educational resources
  • Budgeting and financial guides
  • Online instruction to develop teaching skills
  • Forums to discuss how to improve public, private, and home-school educational systems